Cell phone
Definition A cell phone (also called variously mobile phone, wireless phone, cellular telephone, cellphone, cell and hand phone) is Historical background The cellular phone was invented by Martin Cooper at Motorola in 1973 and became commercially available in the United States a decade later. First-generation cell phones were primarily used for voice traffic. The transition from analog to second-generation (2G) digital transmission technology, primarily during the 1990s, brought about better sound quality, increased spectral efficiency, and enhanced features like mobile voice mail.For a description of 2G technologies, see Implementation of Section 6002(b) of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993, Annual Report and Analysis of Competitive Market Conditions with Respect to Mobile Wireless, including Commercial Mobile Services, Fourteenth Report, 25 FCC Rcd. 11407, 11638-40 (2010) (Fourteenth Mobile Wireless Competition Report). From 1994 to 2000, the FCC auctioned a large number of licenses to use the Personal Communications Service (PCS) spectrum, more than tripling the stock of spectrum available for commercial mobile devices and vastly increasing the capacity to carry digital signals — including voice — over commercial cellular networks.Connecting America: The National Broadband Plan, at 78. The mobile industry responded with a new wave of innovation and investment, which brought about dramatic change. From 1994 to 2000:Id. at 78 (citations omitted). * The per-minute price of cellphone service dropped by 50%. * The number of mobile subscribers more than tripled. * Cumulative investment in the industry more than tripled from $19 billion to over $70 billion. * The number of wireless providers increased significantly in most markets. Then came the development and expansion of "mobile broadband." Colloquially, "mobile broadband" refers to “high-speed, wireless Internet.” More precisely, the term "mobile broadband" refers to advanced network technologies, usually at speeds and latencies (amount of delay in sending and receiving data packets) that allow for Internet access and the use of mobile applications ("apps"). The growth of the mobile broadband industry has been driven by a number of factors, including the development of smartphones and other mobile computing devices, the availability of additional suitable spectrum, and the deployment of mobile wireless broadband networks.Id. at 76-78. In the years since the FCC auctioned PCS licenses, the FCC increased the total spectrum available for mobile services by threefold again — largely through the auction of spectrum in the 700 MHz and 1.7/2.1 GHz bands and the rebanding of spectrum at 2.5 GHz — and this spectrum is coming online for mobile broadband deployment today.7 Most of the major mobile wireless service providers are currently rolling out or planning to deploy new technologies which, by supporting even higher data throughput rates and lower latencies, will facilitate a broader range of mobile applications, such as the viewing of large volumes of video.8 Industry analysts project substantial continued growth of mobile wireless, with data traffic forecasted to increase 35 times 2009 levels by 2014.9 In June 2010, approximately 71.2 million mobile wireless Internet access service subscriptions were reported to the Commission on its Form 477, an 85% increase from the 38.4 million reported in June 2009.10 Overview In addition to the standard voice function of a telephone, current cell phones can support many additional services, and accessories, such as SMS for text messaging, e-mail, packet switching for access to the Internet, and MMS for sending and receiving photos and video. Most current cell phones connect to a cellular network of base stations (cell sites), which is in turn interconnected to the public switched telephone network (PSTN) (the exception is satellite phones). There were more than 850 different certified mobile products in the United States in 2009.The number calculated using FCC data. See Office of Engineering and Technology, FCC, Equipment Authorization Search.https://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/oetcf/eas/reports/GenericSearch.cfm. The data represents applications for grants issued for new FCC IDs for equipment class parameters “PCE-PCS Licensed Transmitter held to ear” and “TNE-Licensed Non-Broadcast Transmitter Held to Ear.” Data does not include applications for permissive changes and counts multiple entries for the same FCC ID only once. In that same year, approximately 172 million mobile phones were sold in the United States. Of these, 27% were Internet-capable smartphones. Hardware A cell phone contains one or more computer chipsets — the core electronics that allow it to transmit and receive information, either telephone calls or data, to and from the wireless network. How cell phones work References Source * "Historical background" section: Information Needs of Communities, at 34-35. Category:Wireless Category:Hardware Category:Definition